Born in France of Spanish Republican refugee parents, Rafael Andia first studied the violin, but at the age of eighteen, with a growing awareness of his musical tradition, he began to devote his life to the guitar. The Flamenco he first practiced yielded to the classical guitar, but his conception of the instrument remains fixed under that early influence. His pursuit of Hispanic influence in the field of classical music of the past, has led Rafael to be the first to pioneer the development of the Spanish baroque guitar. In the 1980's he recorded several albums using ancient instruments, which are still anthologized to this day.

Ever faithful to his origins, Rafael's own compositions delve into that little explored realm midway between Flamenco and the scholarly music of the Iberian Peninsula.

His Canciones Flamencas Antiguas appear in the repertoire of guitar duets around the world and his CD devoted to Albéniz has been acclaimed by critics as "outstanding... one of the greatest recordings of the decade."

Rafael Andia has been teaching baroque and classical guitar in the famous Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris since 1971

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